Thou shalt have no other gods before the ANSI C standard 1420

Douglas A. Gwyn

I do appreciate that you speak up, and I hope you will continue to do so. It is a valuable service, and I know that I personally learn a lot from your point of view. I'm sure that many others do so as well.

If you hear people questioning some of your claims, perhaps it is because we don't like to take things on faith. Some of us have limited patience for "argument by appeal to authority", and we prefer to look for evidence. Merely repeating an argument or slogan is not enough, and credentials -- no matter how impressive -- are not enough. After all, even the best-credentialed, most-experienced gurus are wrong from time to time. The most convincing argument is one backed up by evidence and detailed reasoning.

I fully understand that you may not always have time to provide detailed evidence, or that such evidence may not always exist. Still, in that case I'd plead with you not to be surprised or offended if people reserve the right to keep an open mind rather than taking your word on it.

As for my own posts, I hope you won't take it personally if I ever let a frustrated tone slip into my writings. Any frustration you may hear is more likely to be frustration at my inability to get access to the evidence (for one side or the other) rather than frustration at you personally or at your message.